And the cat came back: After 4 years, 'Vincent' will be reunited with family

The Siamese, who lost his eye due to an infection when he was a kitten, roamed Leidinger's 25-acre farm on the Maine coast, coming in for food and attention from Leidinger's daughter, Sarah, until one day he didn't come home.

"We thought maybe a coyote got him," Anne Leidinger said. "We lived out in the country, and we figured we'd never see him again."

The years passed. Anne Leidinger moved from Maine to Eureka, bringing Vincent's sister with her. Sarah Leidinger began attending the University of Vermont. Then two weeks ago, Sarah Leidinger called her mother with unusual news -- she had found Vincent.

Sarah Leidinger said she was visiting her father and stepmother in Hope, Maine, when her stepmother alerted her to a cat who looked like Vincent. The one-eyed Siamese was in the care of the Camden Rockport Animal Rescue League, who had dubbed him "Willy." Certain this was her long-lost cat, Sarah Leidinger came into the shelter to visit him.

"I thought, 'What are the chances that this could possibly be him?'" she said. "I recognized him. I can't say he remembered me; he was always very happy-go-lucky."

Vincent wound up at the Camden Rockport Animal Rescue League as a stray someone had brought in, said shelter manager Laura Stupca. The person who brought Vincent to the shelter had noticed the cat hanging around since before last winter and had even thought of adopting him, but was hesitant about bringing a stray in, she said.

Vincent came into the shelter already neutered. After bringing him up to date with his vaccines and holding him for a few days to see if anyone would claim him, the shelter put him on its adoption list, Stupca said.

"When he was brought in, he wasn't malnourished," she said. "He was looking pretty good for being outside and being stray."

Vincent was one of six kittens born on Anne Leidinger's farm in Appleton, Maine. Sarah Leidinger said she was about 15 when Vincent was born. While the other kittens were given away, Sarah Leidinger said she and her mother kept Vincent and Tofutti. Vincent was always incredibly affectionate, she said.

"He was an outside cat, and I guess we were used to him stepping out for awhile," Sarah Leidinger said. "After he didn't come back, we were kind of devastated because he was our special little cat."

After four years, Vincent will soon be reunited with Anne Leidinger. Leidinger's friend, Diane Kelley, will pick up the cat at the animal shelter and drive him to Boston, where he will get on a plane bound for California. Leidinger said she hopes to arrange the flight for June 29. Vincent will fly into San Francisco, and Leidinger will take him home.

"We're just incredibly happy that somebody found him and were gracious enough to bring him to the shelter," she said. "We're so happy the shelter people were nice enough to take the call from a crazy lady in California. We're really happy that they were able to reunite us."